Shell eyes potential business with Iran

A couple of days after Iran announced that it is preparing to finalize a petrochemical plant construction deal with Royal Dutch Shell, the head of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) Mansour Riahi said on July 25 that the company is in talks with Shell to sell its jet fuel on international markets.

Nureddin Wefati the Head Media Relations at MENA Shell, told Trend July 25 that the company is exploring potential business opportunities in Iran aligned with its long-term strategy.

He refused to confirm the mentioned negotiations, saying that “no comment on any specific deal”.

Meanwhile, Rahi told IRNA that the talks with Shell on jet fuel selling has reached positive results. According to him, Iranian jet fuel can be sold in the Persian Gulf littoral states.

According to an official document, prepared by NIOPDC and seen by Trend, Iran produced 4.5 million liters per day of jet fuels during the last year, while its consumption reached 4.7 million liters per day.

However, Iran launched the first phase of Persian Gulf Star Refinery in May and it would add 1 million liters per day to the country’s jet fuel in coming months, while the figure would reach 3 million liters per day after launching the second and third phase of this project by 2019.

Earlier Marzieh Shahdaei, head of Iran’s National Petrochemical Company, told IRNA that Iran is preparing to sign contracts with French Total and Royal Dutch Shell on petrochemical projects. The sides are negotiating the final issues to sign contracts, according to her.

Both Total and Shell have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran on Petrochemical sphere in 2016.

Shahdaei said that the worth of the contract with Total will be $2 billion. The worth of Shell’s MoU with Iran is estimated at $6 billion.

Iran plans to attract $10 billion worth of investment in the petrochemical sphere in the current fiscal year. The country projected to double the petrochemical production capacity to 120 million tons per year by 2021.